Yellowstone National Park 2026 Trip Reports
Trip Report ~ Bear & Wolf Sightings ~ by Bill Hamblin
April 6th through 9th 2026
Yellowstone National Park
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
~ April 2026 ~
April 6th - Monday
38 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 62 degrees out in the park this afternoon with a cool evening wind. From 7:00 a.m. through 7:30 a.m. I found and watched a medium sized dark grizzly from Boulder Pullout across Buffalo Ford. It was traveling northeast pasting by Little Mom's Ridge. A few people joined me to watch the grizzly. From 1:20 a.m. through 1:35 a.m. I watched the 5 1/2-year-old female grizzly on Junction Butte from Elk Creek Pullout. I noticed a hiker walking on the Butte and the grizzly ran off to the south because of the hiker. At 3:15 p.m. I found a dark grizzly in a snow field on K-3 Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. At 4:10 p.m. Bruce Mc found a small colorful grizzly on the # 1 finger on Norris. Paul H gave me quick directions, so I got to watch the grizzly for less than a minute before it went out of sight. At 4:50 p.m. the same female grizzly was back digging on Junction Butte in about the same spot as earlier. Lots of people got to see the grizzly as it was digging, then napping, and then digging again for over thirty minutes. Driving through Lamar Canyon at 4:35 pm a small bear jam as a black bear was grazing just off the road to the south. At 4:50 p.m. I found the grizzly sow with one two-year-old cub on Specimen Ridge viewed from Elk Creek. Today they were about a mile east of where they were last evening. The sow was dark and the cub had a lot of blond color. They were feeding on short green grass.
April 7th - Tuesday
37 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 63 degrees with a mild wind starting in the morning and lasting all day. At 7:55 a.m. Paul H found a big dark grizzly digging in K Meadow, viewed from Footbridge Pullout. Paul thinks is was the same grizzly we had on K-3 Meadow last night. He was digging and at times we could see dirt flying as he dug. I came to Footbridge at 12:35 p.m. and the grizzly was still digging in K Meadow. At 8:35 a.m. I found wolves in Lamar Valley. They were coming east as I watched from Picnic Pullout. We ended up with twelve blacks and one gray, missing one black and one gray. They moved into the river corridor and out of sight, probably going up Cache Creek. The wolf watchers had not seen them in three days and yesterday the wolf department said they were way west of Hellroaring Pullout. I would not have guessed they would travel back to Lamar Valley this morning. At 2:45 p.m. I viewed a large black bear grazing on the eastern end of Phantom Lake.
April 8th - Wednesday
It was 40 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 62 degrees out in the park this afternoon. Both ospreys are back near their nest in Lamar Canyon. I watched my first vulture this afternoon from Elk Creek. At 7:35 a.m. Bruce Mc found a bedded grizzly in a clearing below the fingers of Norris. After fifteen minutes it got up and moved slowly out of sight. It was a large medium sized grizzly. At 8:20 a.m. Glenda M found the Junction Butte wolves bedded in the Slough Creek flats. The best view was from Dave's Hill, and I walked up to join the crowd. I counted ten blacks, but others thought the entire pack was there. Around noon the moved up and checked out the den sites. A couple of them checked the sage den closely then disappeared behind the eastern trees. They often do disappear behind the trees and often move near dark. I left before that. Others had all fifteen Rescue Creek wolves on Blacktail Plateau this morning. At 2:45 p.m. Bryon B found a grizzly on Specimen Ridge from the Specimen Pullout. He thought he had two grizzlies and after a few minutes it turned out that he was right. It was the grizzly sow with a two-year cub digging near the skyline. Last evening Bryon and Zach saw them on Specimen Ridge in the snow. Today's sighting was less than a half mile from yesterday's sighting. This was the closest I have observed the family. It is definitely a sow with really colorful blond two and one-half year-old cub.
April 9th - Thursday
40 degrees in Gardiner this morning warming up to 62 degrees with a cold wind this afternoon out in the park. I saw my first meadowlark this morning in Lamar Valley. At 6:40 a.m. Rick M spotted a collared black wolf nosing around the sage den at Slough Creek. The wolf watchers thought it may be 1385F, the alpha female. It slowly moved to the northeast apparently scent trailing the others in the pack. From 10:20 a.m. through 11:15 a.m. we watched a large dark grizzly digging on K-Meadow viewed from Footbridge Pullout. We think the same grizzly we had a few days ago on K-3 Meadow and K Meadow. It was in and out of sight. From 2:40 p.m. through 3:10 p.m. we watched a grizzly spotted by Blake M digging on the far south on the # 1 finger of Norris. It was in a hole digging and we were not sure if it was a grizzly or black bear; but we got a good look when it moved away. At 4:20 p.m. I encountered a large, tall black bear just off the road to the south between Lamar Canyon West and Slough Creek Bathroom. It was close and eventually crossed the road. A ranger arrived and joined the small crowd to watch the bear walk away.
People Seen
Wolf Watchers: From Montana: Rick M, Jeff A, Jeremy S, Mike and Jill B, and Bucket Bob J. From Utah: Paul H. From Colorado: Karol B. From California: Bruce and MaryJean Mc. From North Dakota: Sandy H. And From England: Jakob B. Bear Watchers seen this report: From Louisiana: Bruce P. From Montana: Doug M, Jack G, Les and Paula W, Jeff and Valeria B, and Margaret L. And from Idaho: Blake M. Others seen this report: From Montana: Dan and Cindy H, Leo L, Andrea B, Grant J, Cara M, Cliff B, MacNeil L, Quinn H, Bryon B, Nate U, and Kyle D. From Washington: Nick and Diane L.
Beautiful Mountain Lion ~ Lamar Valley ~ April 10th, 2023 ~ Photo by Linda Rudge Carney © All Rights Reserved
Mountain Lion ~ also known as the Cougar, Puma, Panther, or Catamount ~ Puma concolor
Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley Map - Yellowstone National Park
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